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Washington, DC – After taking the office oath For his second term in January, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, said that he would push to “arrest all wars” and leave an inheritance of a “peacemaker and a unifier”.
But six months later, the missiles fly through the Middle East after Iran Iran attacked Iran, risking a total regional war that could cause American troops in the conflict.
The Israeli strikes on Iran, which Trump has almost explicitly approved, now tests the president’s promise to be a warning sign of peace.
They also divide its base, many right-wing politicians and commentators stressing that unconditional support in Israel is in contradiction with the “America First” platform on which Trump was elected.
“There is a very strong feeling of betrayal and anger in many regions of the base of” America First “because it really turned against the idea that the United States was involved or supported such wars,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice-president of the Quincy Institute, an American reflection group that promotes diplomacy.
“They have largely become skeptical about Israel, and they firmly believe that these types of wars are what makes republican presidencies become failures – and what makes their national program compromise.”
‘Drop Israel’
On Friday, several conservatives questioned Israeli strikes, warning that the United States should not be dragged into a war that does not serve its interests.
Conservative commentator influential TUCKER Carlson – Considered a major figure in Trump’s Make America Movement (Maga) – said the United States should not support the “eager war” by Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu.
“If Israel wants to wage this war, she has the right to do so. He is a sovereign country, and he can do what he wants. But not with the support of America,” said Tucker Carlson Network Morning Newsletter Sell on Friday.
He added that a war with Iran could “feed the next generation of terrorism” or lead to the murder of thousands of Americans on behalf of a foreign program.
“It goes without saying that none of these possibilities would be beneficial for the United States,” said the newsletter. “But there is another option: place Israel. Let them fight their own wars.”
Republican Senator Rand Paul also warned against war with Iran and criticized the neoconservatives bellies in Washington.
“The crushing American people[ly] oppose our endless warsAnd they voted this way when they voted for Donald Trump in 2024 “, Paul wrote In an article on social networks.
“I urge President Trump to keep the course, to continue to put America first and to participate in any war between other countries.”
Right -wing congress Marjorie Taylor Greene also sent a message suggesting that it is opposed to the strikes. She previously warned Trump against Iran’s attack on the basis of Israeli claims that Tehran is about to acquire a nuclear weapon.
“I pray for peace. Peace ”, she wrote on X. “This is my official position.”
While many supporters of Israel have cited the threat of an Iran with nuclear arms, the government of Tehran has long denied pursuing a nuclear weapon. Trump’s own head of intelligence, Tulsi Gabbardsaid in March that the United States “continues to assess that Iran does not build a nuclear weapon.”
Charlie Kirk, a key republican activist and commentator who is a fervent supporter of Israel, also expressed skepticism at the idea of engaging in a war with Iran.
“I can tell you right now, our Maga base does not want a war at all,” said Kirk on his podcast. “They don’t want involvement. They do not want the United States to be engaged in this area. ”
Israel’s attacks
A few hours before Israel begins to bomb Iran on Friday – targeting its military bases, its nuclear facilities and its residential buildings – Trump said that his administration was attached to diplomacy with Tehran.
“Listen, it’s very simple. Not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Other than that, I want them to succeed. We will help them succeed,” Trump said at a press conference on Thursday.
A sixth cycle of denuclearization talks between us and Iranian officials should be held in Oman on Sunday.
Nevertheless, on Friday, Trump told journalists that he had known in advance Israel’s attacks. He did not indicate that he had opposed his veto in the bombing campaign, although Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the actions of Israel as “unilateral”.
Instead, Trump set the scope for attacks on Iran, saying that his officials should have taken his calls into account to conclude an agreement to dismantle the country’s nuclear program.
“I told them that it would be much worse than everything they knew, foresee or said that the United States did the best and deadliest military in the world, by far, and that Israel has a lot, with much more to come,” Trump wrote In an article on social networks.
Parsi said that at the beginning, Trump wanted to conclude an agreement with Iran, but that his requests for Tehran put an end to the enrichment of uranium led to a dead end in talks.
“Instead of continuing the negotiations reasonably, he adopted the Zero enrichment An objective, which would predict, to a dead end, that predictable the Israelis pushed him towards military strikes and climbing, “he told Al Jazeera.
Parsi added that he thought Trump was committed to deception in last week by pushing diplomacy while knowing that Israeli strikes were coming.
“Trump deliberately made statements in favor of diplomacy, in favor not to have Israel attacks, bringing everyone to think that, if there is an attack, it would happen after the six cycles of talks on Sunday, “he said.” Instead, it happened earlier. “”
The “America First” base
While the Israeli strikes have aroused criticism of the Congress, many Republicans and Democrats encouraged them.
But a key element in Trump’s base was a right wing segment that challenges the unconditional support of the United States to Israel.
“They are really representative of a solid constituency within the Republican Party, especially if you look at younger individuals,” said Jon Hoffman, a defense and foreign policy researcher at the Cato Institute, a libertarian reflection group.
Hoffman underlined a recent Pew Research Center investigation This suggested that 50% of Republicans under the age of 50 have an unfavorable vision of Israel.
“Among the electorate himself, the American people are sick and tired of these endless wars,” he told Al Jazeera.
Foreign policy hawks which are favorable to military interventions dominated the Republican party during the presidency of George W Bush, which launched the Iraq invasions And Afghanistan following attacks on September 11, 2001.
But these two conflicts were disastrous. Thousands of soldiers were killed and many others found themselves with lasting physical and psychological scars. Critics have also wondered if the wars have advanced American interests in the region – or put them back.
The project to strengthen the nation in Iraq, for example, saw the rise of a friendly government with Iran and the emergence of groups judged as a threat to world security, Including ISIL (Isis).
In Afghanistan, in the meantime, the Taliban turned to power In 2021, almost exactly two decades after the group’s start by American forces. The Afghan government supported by the United States quickly collapsed while US troops withdrew from the country.
During his re -election campaign in 2024, Trump exploited the anger that the two conflicts generated. On several occasions, he sketched an alternative calendar where, if he had been president, the collapse of the Afghan government would never have taken place.
“We would not have had this horrible situation in Afghanistan, the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country,” Trump told a rally in October 2024 in Detroit.
The American president also criticized his democratic opponent Kamala Harris for his alliance with Dick Cheney, who was vice-president of Bush, and his daughter Liz Cheneycriticizing them as “war hawks”.
“Kamala campaigns with the Muslim hate chalet, Liz Cheney, who wants to invade almost all Muslim countries on the planet,” Trump told another crowd in Novi, Michigan. He added that Dick Cheney “was responsible for invading him from the Middle East” and “killing millions”.
But criticism say that Trump’s posture towards Israeli strikes in Iran Risks implemented it in his own Middle East conflict.
Hoffman, for example, underlined the proximity of American-Israeli relations and the persistence of civil servants within the Republican Party who has been conspiciting with Iran for decades, like the senator Lindsey Graham.
“There is a huge risk that the United States will be trained in this war,” said Hoffman.
